Find inspiration at Hailsham Arts Festival

The multi-art form festival and fringe spanning music, theatre, visual art, poetry, film, dance, workshops, talks and family events, takes place across 27 venues in the town between now and September 21.

Bluebell - Picture courtesy of Hailsham Art Festival

It promises to get creative juices flowing with Three Minute Wonder where budding film makers create a three minute piece on their phone, camera or video device with the winner revealed at an awards ceremony. A poetry competition, workshops on how to create a newspaper, how to build a ‘mini-ville’ paper town, how to paint with watercolours and how to jive also promise to inspire.

The finale will see Sergey Yatskevych, Ensemble of National Dance Ukraine choreographer, bring high energy Russian/Ukrainian folk dance collective, Cossackshow to the Hailsham Pavilion.

Solo art exhibitions come courtesy of US artist Joseph Sevier and the 11-year-old Marina Cruzer from Walton on Thames who has already exhibited twice in London and once in St. Petersburg. Art lovers can also enjoy the festival’s biggest Art Trail with 14 exhibitions and open studios.

Director Jenny West said: “This year’s Festival is about getting creative, inspired and enjoying yourself. This year’s programme looks to be our best yet with a wide array of things for people to see and do including 13 free events. We extend our thanks to Hailsham Pavilion and all our sponsors for this year’s support.”

Offerings from the diverse music programme include blues and rock n’ roll from the Cajun Dawgs, early classical music from trio Faronel, foot stomping barn dance from the So Last Century String Band and rock from the Memphis Flyers. Go and enjoy An Evening of Cockney Cheer featuring Pearly Kings and Queens, tales of London life, and a good old-fashioned sing-along in aid of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

For families there a screening of Japanese animation Ponyo which won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in 2009.

Hailsham Theatre’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings is part of the festival’s fringe. For the third year, community radio station Hailsham Festival FM, which is manned by volunteers, will broadcast daily throughout the festival.